ArtixScan M1 Dual Media Scanner

Having used Microtek’s ScanMaker 9800XL at my office for a
number of years, my expectations were rather high for the ArtixScan M1.

The Microtek ArtixScan M1 Dual Media Scanner.

At $650 retail, this scanner is significantly less expensive than
professional flatbed scanners, but is conversely priced significantly
higher than most consumer scanners. Out of the box, the ArtixScan M1
appears, at first, to be a solid piece of hardware, and the included
software might seem to support that appearance.

Alas, it was more of an illusion than an appearance. In a nutshell, the
ArtixScan M1 doesn’t seem to be well constructed, it’s slower than
molasses in winter, and it makes noises worthy of a carnival spook
house.

I did like that the ArtixScan M1 was simple to set up and get the
software installed. But that’s where I stopped liking it.

Hinge Quality

Even though the ArtixScan M1’s cover is lightweight and thin, its
support hinges seem extremely chintzy.

Clearly, inexpensive consumer scanners won’t have world-class sturdiness
in the hinges. Also, I must note that I’m accustomed to the solid hinges
on my pro scanner at work. With this in mind, my expectation was that
I’d find middle-ground hinges on this mid-range scanner. What I actually
found were hinges that would cause me concern if I were planning to use
this scanner long-term. In the photo above, the two plastic struts that
hold up the lid are visible. The bottom end of these struts swivel
inside the indentations on the scanner itself.

One of the ArtixScan M1’s plastic hinges.

The upper fourth of the above photo is the scanner’s lid. The plastic
strut and the hinge can be seen. The hinge portion is just a rounded
bulb of plastic at the end of the strut which rests in the round
indentation. When the hinge swivels to close the lid, the strut is
upright and the lid is flush against the top of the scanner. The round
hinge portion is barely a half inch in diameter.

The scanner lid is removable. This image shows the entire strut that
fits into the indentations on the scanner.

This type of consumer-grade hinge, combined with a lid that is larger
than those found on less expensive scanners, is a recipe for potential
catastrophe. An owner would be highly advised to take care about the
stress placed on this hinge. I’d be concerned with even a minimal amount
of twisting, something I found the lid prone to doing.

Dust Devil

The next major issue was one I didn’t notice until I had installed the
software and powered up the scanner. As soon as the bulb lit up, a
horrific amount of dust and debris was visible on the scanner glass.

This might be an expected scene on a two- or three-year-old scanner,
but brand new out of the box?

Unfortunately, 95% of this dirt was on the bottom side of the glass, and
I found absolutely no way to clean it. I asked myself, “How does this
much dirt get inside the scanner in the first place?” I needed only
remove the transparency adapter tray to answer that question. Once
removed, a three-quarter-inch-tall cavity stands ready to grant access
to all forms of floating debris. It’s so huge, yet is so small because I
still can’t get anything inside to clean the glass.

Because the transparency adapter is inserted directly into the
scanner’s innards, dust can easily fly into the slot, or be carried
from the adapter, into the scanner.

Vague recollections from high school science classes had me theorizing
that the glass probably gains a certain amount of static electricity,
causing an even greater invitation for dust to cling to the bottom side.
I’m accustomed to my pro scanner at work, which contains a secondary
lighting element in the lid. Transparencies, once fitted into templates,
are laid on the same surface where standard photos are placed. As such,
there are no large transparency tray slots that dust can float into.
Admittedly, this may be much of the reason my pro scanner retails for
$1,800, but I don’t believe a scanner at any price should be designed so
that dust can fly in so easily.

Transparency Adapters

Since I’m on the topic of transparency adapters, this is the right
moment to mention that the ArtixScan M1 is bundled with adapters for
four different types of transparencies.

The transparency holder tray is open in the middle. Another tray with
this space filled with glass is also included. With the glass tray and
included tacky strips, transparencies that do not fit one of the four
adapters can still be scanned.

Other than having to insert the trays into the scanner’s internal
mechanism, the transparency adapters were one of the ArtixScan M1’s
features that I liked. 35mm slide mounts happily live in the 12 slots,
and sliding film in and out of the 35mm filmstrip adapter is far easier
than with the adapter on my ScanMaker at the office. I also liked the
lids on the larger format adapters which securely hold the film in place.

Software

Officially, Microtek’s ScanWizard Pro software is not supported on Mac OS X
10.5. Apple’s current operating system has been out for more than four
months and has seen a much higher rate of adoption by users than any
previous version. It is a travesty that 10.5 is not yet officially
supported.

Yet, other than two issues I encountered, I was still able to install
the software under Leopard and perform some scans. One of the issues was
that the Photoshop plug-in couldn’t be recognized. I had to launch the
application separately and then open the images in Photoshop. The second
issue turned up when I tried to type in the desired filename of my scan.
No matter what I tried, the filename field would only accept a single
character. Each character I typed replaced whatever had come before. The
filetype extension, however, stayed as part of the filename, having been
auto-filled by an option in the Open/Save dialog box.

Microtek’s ScanWizard Pro software.

ScanWizard Pro is not the worst scanning software I’ve ever used, but
it’s far from the best. Visually, it appears as though it’s a haphazard
port of a Windows version. The menu bar items don’t even appear in the
Macintosh’s main menu bar. They instead show up within the scan window,
just like a Windows application. The Settings panel contains advanced
adjustments that will quickly confuse a novice user with no indication
that they are optional/advanced settings.

At the top of the Settings panel, the Job adjustment contains a pop-up
menu, suggesting I can change from a Reflective original to a
Transparency. Yet, no other options were visible when I clicked the
menu. Instead, I must change the scan type with the menu in the main
window. This setting is updated in the Settings panel as needed.

As an alternative to ScanWizard Pro, Microtek included the SilverFast SE
Plus software. I strongly advise the use of this software instead of
ScanWizard Pro. Though also not perfect, I find it far simpler to use. A
variant release of SilverFast designed for upper-end scanners is what I
use at my office.

SilverFast SE Plus third-party software.

Leopard compatibility was an issue with SilverFast, as well. The bundled
version installed without a problem, and even worked as a Photoshop
plug-in. I then noticed a setting to switch from Standard to Basic
scanning mode. Standard was used by default. When I tried changing to
Basic, a portion of SilverFast crashed. Only the main scanner window
remained, but the settings window on the left disappeared. Subsequent
relaunches repeated this crash. With the settings window inaccessible, I
could not switch back to Standard.

It took a trip to SilverFast’s Web site, registration of the software,
and a download to retrieve an updated version to resolve this issue.
Once I was up to date, I encountered no further issues with the
SilverFast software, and I would even recommend that novice users start
with the Basic scanning mode.

Speed and Sound

The process of performing a scan on the ArtixScan M1 is an exercise in
patience—a great deal of it is required. I honestly don’t feel as though
it took much, if any, longer to install the scanner than it did to scan
a photo. I’m sure this assessment, in reality, is an exaggeration. But
perception is important, and I just didn’t like how long it took for a
scan to complete.

Likewise, this scanner makes an outrageous racket. It was of sufficient
annoyance that I did some searching in forums, and I found other users
complaining of both noise and lack of speed. I did ponder whether the
review unit that was shipped had a defect, but I don’t believe anything
is wrong with it. It’s simply slow and noisy.

Scan Quality

The reasons are pretty straightforward why I assigned an Okay rating to
the ArtixScan M1 and not Rotten. Once I started using the latest version
of SilverFast SE Plus, the scanner performed reliably—speed and noise
notwithstanding. The quality of the scans is quite in the same league as
my ScanMaker at work, but the images seemed better than scans I’ve
encountered from cheaper scanners. The flexibility of the transparency
adapters also gives the ArtixScan M1 an edge over cheaper scanners.

My first scan with the ArtixScan M1. This image of the Dallas School
Book Depository was taken in 2000.

This scan, also from 2000, features a darker background which I used
to demonstrate the severity of the dust on the scanner glass.

The images above are directly from the scanner. The only adjustments
performed were reduction to ATPM’s default image width, and a slight
amount of sharpening. Scans seemed to have a slight red cast, but I find
that to be rather common with most scanners—even my higher-end
ScanMaker. Otherwise, the scan quality was very acceptable.

The second image’s dark background, however, reveals just how bad the
dust problem is with the ArtixScan M1. The contamination, in my opinion,
makes this scan unusable.

This detail of a small portion of the second scan appears at 1:1
ratio—no reduction.

The above detail was lightened slightly to better reveal the dust specks
and lint strands strewn across the image. (Note: don’t confuse the light
reflections of the canister lids in the background for the dust
appearing everywhere else.)

This image was scanned from a 35mm negative.

Scanning a 35mm negative produced scarier noises than scanning a printed
photo, but the results were satisfactory.

If you’d like to study the original/raw TIFF scans, all three can be
downloaded as a Zip
archive (15.5 MB).

Conclusion

I started out indicating my high expectations for the ArtixScan M1,
based on my experience with Microtek’s ScanMaker 9800XL. The ArtixScan
M1 is actually capable of pretty good quality scans, but the hurdles to
get there just aren’t worth it. Moreover, the scan quality doesn’t seem
sufficiently better than some less-expensive scanners to justify the
ArtixScan M1’s higher price.

Reader Comments (7)

I have the same thing just a different model. Microtek’s ScanMaker i900, with scan wizard Pro. It has all the same features. I love it I have scanned Thousands of photos, Slides, and negatives as well as each painting that I produce. It works well with iphoto and an HP OfficeJet Pro K850 to make quality prints of My Paintings. I find the hinges quite good and have lasted through scanning large canvases.

Heather - The ScanMaker series is a much better quality line than the ArttixScan. Most ScanMaker models are considerably higher priced, but the i900 indeed has a very attractive price. As stated in the article, I have a ScanMaker 9800 XL at work that I'm very satisfied with. Also note that I never knocked the ArtixScan for scan quality. I think the imaging sensor did a good job...it's just all the other factors that kept me from rating it better—the ease at which dust can enter being the primary reason.

I can't believe the M1 Pro is being sold to the public. I waited 2 years for it to come to market. I bought two for the school I teach at, and they looked used out of the box. Dust everywhere, and no way to clean it, but why isn't it clean to begin with? The software is a bad joke if you have Mac OS 10.5.3, it does not work. I am sending them back. I hate companies that screw consumers, and kids.

Hi. Regarding the dust problem, according to a friend of mine who has used this scanner (and likes it), you just have to open and pull out the cover and slightly depress the tab in the hole between the hinges and slide the glass back. Use an antistatic product when cleaning the glass and you should be good (for a bit!). Why on earth the manufacturer does not pass on this necessary information in their instructions is almost beyond belief, considering this unit's serious problem with dust attraction. Hope this helps. Good night and good luck.

Bob - good comments, yet there's still my underlying problem that no scanner should be designed such that dust can fly in so easily in the first place—let alone be caked with dust underneath when it's brand new out the box.

Hi. I have a different model - ArtixScan DI 2010. This is a document scanner. Initially it worked fine, but the hinges (made from plastic) broke and could not be fixed. I contacted Microtek and all advice they could give was to buy a new scanner.

My scanner also has a problem with dust under the glass. There is no easy way to open the scanner and clean this.

Sturdy metal hinges would have been better. They could even be made to be replaced. I suggested this to Mikrotek, but they did not seem interested. I do not understand why they do not bother to improve their products. Their scanners are still the same as a few years ago.

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